Category: blogging

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Do you have a need to write non-fiction articles for your blog, newsletter, or other purpose? Then you’ll find this article timely, apt, and practical. I am going to share some tips which have
stood me in good stead… and should be most helpful for you.

My writing credentials.

I have been a published author now for nearly 60 years; my first non-fiction article appeared in the Downers Grove (Illinois) Reporter and was a look at the neighborhood through the eyes of a five year old. Since then, I have written 18 books and thousands of articles on a wide range of subjects. I also have taught expository writing at several colleges and universities, including Harvard. In the last year I have written over 200 non-fiction articles of about 1,500 words each. You could say, and you’d be right, that scribbling is in my veins.

1) Have a writing place, a room or even just a desk that’s used only for your writing.

Have you got a place now that’s dedicated to your writing and to nothing else? Probably not… and that’s your first problem. All serious writers (and by that I mean writers who are dedicated, productive and focused) know the importance of a room all their own, a room where the rest of the world is cordially not invited. In this space — sacrosanct to your craft — there is NOTHING else going on but what helps you write. These days that means a computer with at least a 36″ screen. The older you (and your eyes) are, the more you’ll appreciate the screen size.

Make it clear to all the world that they are not to touch, ever, a single thing in this space. ALL writers have idiosyncratic organizational systems. Whatever is yours must be for you and you alone.

2) Have standard reference books easily at hand.

Good writers have a good working library containing appropriate reference books. For instance, I have standard dictionaries in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German. I use them daily… and so must you. Good writers are expert are finding just the word they need… the dictionaries ensure they get it.

Note: Some, presumably younger, readers will argue that everything they need is available online. It may be a function of my age and habits, but I like the old paper dictionaries and other reference books. That may make me an anachronism… but a happy and productive one.

3) Set up a filing system.

You should have files for articles and books you intend to write. These files should contain ideas and research findings. Do not be casual or disorganized about these things; losing them could set you back days or weeks and is sure, at the very least, to leave you in a nasty temper.

You also need files for all the articles you have written. Such files will contain your notes and research data and a copy of the final article, as well as any fan letters you received (yes, you’ll get them) and other pertinent correspondence.

4) Have a handy place for all your writing supplies.

Writers need lots of supplies, including reams of paper, fax supplies, etc. You’ll need good pens, too, for editing. What you write online should always be printed out when it’s time to review what you’ve written.

5) Select your writing time and strictly adhere to it.

Seasoned writers are methodical writers. They set the exact time they intend to write, starting and concluding, and then proceed accordingly. In his must- read autobiography prolific Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope made it clear when he wrote and what he aimed to produce (250 words the quarter hour). He set the objective and then made sure he achieved it by being in his writing place at the set time… and focusing exclusively on his craft and output at that time.

6) Never take phone calls or other interruptions during your writing time.

Non-writers do not understand writers and our often curious ways; no, they never have and never will. That’s why they think of telephoning or even showing up during your essential writing time. Such people must be politely but firmly told that you never answer calls, etc. or attend to any other interrupting thing during that scheduled period. Life’s little interruptions are severely detrimental to what we must do, and we must be strict about controlling their access.

5) Write daily.

There isn’t a day that goes by, not Christmas, Thanksgiving or the 4th of July, that I don’t write. Thus, by adhering to a strict schedule, I produce about 325,000 publishable words each year. What’s important, however, is not the quantity of words produced but their consistent quality… and the fact that not a single day ends until the quota for that day is finished.

I live in an academic community where there are lots of experienced and even more aspiring writers. When one identifies himself to me, I always ask what he’s working on now, when he expects to finish it and when he finished his last writing project. The answers provide irrefutable proof as to whether the person in question is a writer… or merely a dreamer. Writers write… more importantly writers write daily.

6) Learn to use the search engines.

As a prolific writer, I spent in earlier years a great deal of time in libraries garnering necessary information. Nowadays, with up-to-the-minute data available online at your finger tips, I hardly ever set foot in such an archaic place. The key here is knowing how to use search engines, the “card catalogs” of the Web. Here are some tips:

a) never limit your search to a single search engine. Different search engines can and do produce different results.

b) never restrict yourself to one search term. Brainstorm different search queries; they will produce different results.

c) Print the data and documents you discover as soon as you find them. What you find today may not be there when you return.

d) Do your search engine researching during time you are not writing. Searching is not only necessary; it is actually fun and relaxing.

7) Set up a blog where you can showcase your work.

If you have a blog, use it. If you don’t, set one up at once as a useful place to showcase your work.

A blog gives you, unlike all previous writers, the opportunity to tell the world who you are and show them what you can produce. It should be well-written, simply but eye-catchingly presented, and always timely.

Last Words

Writers are special people; we have a privilege that most of the world can only imagine: the need, the obligation, the absolutely necessary task of seeking truth, contemplating what we find, then writing about it in the clearest, most honest way we can. In the process we touch people’s lives, inform them, change them, improve them. There is absolutely nothing more essential and more rewarding than that.

Now, with this article in hand, you are ready to perfect yourself as a writer and the process that produces just the words you want, just when you want them; for that is the last of today’s advice.To set a deadline for all your writing tasks… and stay focused so you achieve it…

… Which is what I have just done… finishing today’s article on time and the right length, too. In a few minutes it will be posted online, the next step to helping it wend its way to you. Thus we lucky scribblers change the world, one word, one article, one reader after another… people who make a difference every day and gladly so.

About the Author

Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. at
www.worldprofit.com, providing a wide range of online services for
small and-home based businesses.

To see Dr. Lant’s blog go to www.jeffreylantarticles.com

Dr. Lant is happy to give all readers 50,00 free guaranteed
visitors to the website of your choice for attending his live webcast today.
Visit Worldprofit for details.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Have you noticed that blogs are popping up online everywhere?
Yes, blogging is the phenomenon of the age. You just need to know
how to profit from it. These suggestions will help.

1) Be clear on your objective.

The people who are successful with blogging, that is the people who are
making money from it, all are very clear on what they are writing their blog to
accomplish. If you’re writing a business blog your objective is crystal clear:
you blog to profit and for no other reason.

Too many (particularly new) blogsters have mixed objectives. Sure, they want
to make money but, perhaps even more (and dangerously) they write to get their
share of the limelight.

Don’t make that mistake.

When you’re in business your blog exists for one reason and one reason only:
to put money in your pocket, as quickly and substantially as possible.

2) Never forget the deal you have with your readers.

People who run successful (that is to say money-making) blogs never lose sight
of the implicit deal they have with their readers,  viz.

Publisher: I will email you information of value and consequence. I shall also
send you (in the same issue) ad copy for your earnest and honest consideration.

Reader: So long as you email me superior copy, I shall do two important things:
I will read this copy, and I shall also (at least ) glance at your ads.

This is the basis for a mutually satisfactory relationship.

3) Understand your role as a publisher.

Publishers become publishers for two major reasons: because they have something
important to say and want to influence the world AND to make money. Thus in every
issue you must offer superior content…and prospect-centered ad copy. The key here
is keeping this equation balanced.

If you run nothing but superior content, your readers may be delighted… but you’ll
make no money and, in short order, give up the enterprise.

If you run nothing but (or even too many) ads, your reader will immediately get
bored…and punish you not just by trashing your current issue but trashing all
future issues without even a glance.

Publishing, then, is all about balance.

4) Study the great publishers and their empire-building methods and procedures.

The minute you have a blog, you have become a publisher… and the minute you become
a publisher you become a card-carrying member of the greatest professional association
on earth: publishering. Now you are part of a grand tradition. Make it a point to understand
what that means by studying the great practitioners of your business. This includes
people like Gutenberg and his Bible (1455)… Canadian Lord Beaverbrook who seized English
newspapers the better to manipulate ministries and imperial politics and his tenacious
rival Viscount Rothermere… and the great publishing families of America whose names
alone remind us of what publishers can do to generate wealth for themselves while shaping
the course of a great nation starting with William Randolph Hearst…

The Taylors  of Boston… the McCormicks of Chicago… the Chandlers of Los Angeles….
and their counterparts in every significant city on earth.

You, you!, are now one of their number, and I can tell you  this about such people, they
were all, to a person,

* big thinkers

* people who meant to shape events, not just witness them

* determined to have their point of view not just seen but dominant.

The small, the trivial, the inconsequential and insignificant had absolutely no place
in their publications or their lives. These are the people, your professional ancestors,
it behooves us all to study and emulate.

These were people of amazing, irrepressible energies and imaginations. They didn’t
moan and groan about their "work", the time it took, the sacrifices they had to make
to do it. They were grateful for the opportunity to create vehicles of wealth and influence,
thrilled to get up each and every day and set about their work, stamping the world with
their mark… and eager, too.

Is this how you approach the business of  your blog? If it isn’t, re-examine your reasons
for creating and publishing a blog and once you have done so absorb these home truths
about the business:

* Say something significant in every issue.  We all want to "make a difference" with
our lives. When you’re a with-it publisher, this is easy to do. Make it clear that yours
is a blog designed to make this a better world; there is no higher calling than that.

* Always ask your readers to respond. "Bribe" them, if necessary, to do so… offer them
something of value that induces them to respond quickly and meaningfully. Such people
become your best customers.

* Publish to a schedule. The best way to blog is daily. If you aspire to significance and
substantial rewards no other schedule should even be considered.

* Talk directly, frankly to your readers. Be for them what every great publisher must be:
a candid, direct, honest to a fault advocate of humane and progressive change. Publishing,
you see, is never merely about transmitting information; it is about seizing minds and
changing lives… about throwing down gauntlets and taking up causes… and always
informing, motivating, energizing, enthusing and transforming.

Make today the day you rethink and recreate your blog.

The most stimulating game on earth is influencing others and so shaping the world you
want. This is the gift all (good) blog publishers get… but you get it if and only if you
focus on providing people with blog posts of interest, significance, and value. Nothing
less can or should be set before the most important people in your business life: your
blog readers.

From now on, focus each day on what you want to share with them; what you know
that can change and improve their lives… and how you will present it to them for maximum
impact and long-lasting effect. They must see you for what you are: their great and valued
friend and counselor, operating through and touching their lives in your blog.

When you are producing a blog of value and influence, your entire outlook on life shifts;
no problem is too big, too oppressive, over powering: problems are merely challenges
which you can help your readers surmount and conquer, one step at a time.

You see, publishing, all publishing, is about the business of improving lives. That is
what publishers do; that is what you as a publisher must do… with your ever-improving and
life-transforming blog the vehicle to hand. Do this and the golden benefits of blogging, not
least the systematic and continuing improvement of lives, will all be yours.

About the Author

Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc. at
www.worldprofit.com, providing a wide range of online services for
small and-home based businesses.

To see Dr. Lant’s blog go to www.jeffreylantarticles.com

Dr. Lant is happy to give all readers 50,000 free guaranteed
visitors for attending his live webcast today. Visit Worldprofit
for details.